Beyond G’Day: A Triathlete’s Guide To Aussie English

Sure, English is the primary language of the land down under. But to the untrained American ear, Australian English can sound like rhythmically accented gobbledygook. As part of our warm-up coverage for the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship in Melbourne, we interpret a handful of commonly used words and phrases to help make sense of what our multi-sport “mates” are saying:

go, going = do, doing 

“How do you think Rinny will go at Ironman Melbourne?”

“How are you going today?”

What’s on? = What’s happening? What’s planned?

“Forget about the pre-race activities – do you know what’s on for the after party?”
heaps = lots

“I ate heaps of ice cream after my long ride.”

niggle = injury

physio = physical therapist

“I’ve had this niggle in my calf for three or four weeks now – I guess I’d better get in to see my physio.”
arvo = afternoon

tomoz = tomorrow

“I’ll run this morning and swim in the arvo. Then tomoz will be all about the bike.”
track = trail

“The best place to run is the track along the river. It’s all soft surface and the views are incredible.”
swim squad = Masters swimming

session = workout

“Did you hear that bloke going on at coffee after swim squad? He wouldn’t stop talking about how he nailed the session – but I saw him sit out a 50 on every 200!”

knob = fool

sunnies = sunglasses

“Yeah, that guy’s a bit of a knob. Did you see him checking out his own reflection in your sunnies?”

ace = the best

“Chocolate milk is ace after a hard session!”

lollies = candies

“Half the reason I train so hard is so that I can eat lollies all day.”

smashed, knackered, shattered, stuffed, buckled = totally exhausted

nana nap = afternoon nap

“I was completely smashed after that 150km ride. It was all I could do to make it home and take a two-hour nana nap.”

cruisey = easy

“Let’s just head out for a cruisey half hour run. My legs are pretty well stuffed from yesterday’s 30k.”

chuffed = thrilled

“Crowie was chuffed to win Kona for the third time.”

touch wood = knock on wood

“It will surely be a hot, humid run. Touch wood I get my nutrition right and don’t bonk.”

rubbish = trash

bin = trash can

“Don’t leave any rubbish on the course – be sure to toss it in the bin.”

come off the bike = crash

“I’m not at all surprised he came off the bike. He took that corner way too fast.”

port-a-loo = port-a-potty

“She couldn’t be bothered with the port-a-loo line – instead she ducked behind a bush.”

cozzie, bathers = swimsuit

togs = men’s swimsuit

scungies, budgy smugglers = men’s Speedo-style swimsuit

“You don’t see many men racing these days in budgy smugglers – except of course Faris Al Sultan.”

And finally, assuming you’ll want to celebrate properly post-race, a lesson in ordering beer Australian-style is in order. Beer glass sizes and descriptions vary from state to state and even from city to city in this froth-loving land, so we’ll focus on metropolitan Melbourne, where the following are the most commonly ordered:

pint = 20 ounces

schooner = 15 ounces

pot = 10 ounces

There’s also the glass at 7 ounces, the small glass at 6 ounces and the pony at 5 ounces, but really, why bother?

More from the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championships in Melbourne.